Which Nassau excursions are worth the money?

[CruzinKittie]

I just checked the weather and there are supposed to be thunderstorms every day at sea...ugh...I wonder now if I should even book an excursion....

[kikimom]

Has anyone done the VIP Dolphin Swim & lunch in Nassau?

[peajay84]

I booked independently for the Rum Runners Tour. Rum tasting, conch fritters, tour of Graycliff Mansion, gourmet handmade chocolates samples, handmade ice cream sample, tour of small distillery and a rum drink. Neither hubby or I are rum drinkers but it was a fun tour! Great history of the Bahamas and it's part in the rum runners trade. A lot of walking though so be sure to wear good walking shoes.

[MCH2340]

The Bahamas is overrated to me, but the place is impressive physically.

It’s almost like a very expensive Las Vegas.

[CRocks]

I saw a lot of very unhappy people post about the Atlantis excursion on the Carnival page. What excursion did you do on Nassau/Freeport and was it worth the money??

 

In Nassau, I'd just grab a cabbie + tell him you wanna see the forts + Queen's Staircase (right by the one fort). Super cheap tour of the island. I'd AVOID the straw market completely. Not much in Freeport, and nothing where the ship docks. Consider a taxi to Port Lucaya.

[Silent Penguin]

Do you have contact information for this company? The website is not working. I sent a message on Facebook but after I sent it a message popped up saying the company usually takes a week or more to respond. Thanks!

I bet it has something to do with the hurricane damage and the company's ability to communicate with potential customers. It was only a few weeks ago that I checked their website to confirm that the cost of the tour had increased. I'm sorry I don't have any contact information that differs from what you tried.

 

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[tigger292]

I booked independently for the Rum Runners Tour. Rum tasting, conch fritters, tour of Graycliff Mansion, gourmet handmade chocolates samples, handmade ice cream sample, tour of small distillery and a rum drink. Neither hubby or I are rum drinkers but it was a fun tour! Great history of the Bahamas and it's part in the rum runners trade. A lot of walking though so be sure to wear good walking shoes.

 

Who did you book with . . . That sounds like a great tour!

[Freckle53]

We've been to Blue Lagoon and loved it. We paid extra for the inflatables park for one of our kids. We also did the day pass at Melia a few years ago and it was perfect. We had small kids and preteens and they had awesome pools of varying depths and the beach was beautiful with no vendors hassling. It was not crowded at all, and between the perfect weather and all, it is probably my favorite beach we've been to.

[Miller_KC]

I just checked the weather and there are supposed to be thunderstorms every day at sea...ugh...I wonder now if I should even book an excursion....

 

Almost every day I spent in the Caribbean had Thunderstorms forecasted. Only 2 or 3 had enough rain to interrupt our excursions. Usually rained early in the morning, for a short time, or on a different part of the island. I don't worry about the rain forecasts any more.

[kcdancerkc]

Beaches that are not overcrowded

Beaches that have great sand

Beaches in the Panhandle of Florida, Navarre specifically feels like cake flour on your feet.

Gold rock beach is kept natural, no fighting for space, and it seems that many people on ships don't take the time to trek there.

[CruzinKittie]

Almost every day I spent in the Caribbean had Thunderstorms forecasted. Only 2 or 3 had enough rain to interrupt our excursions. Usually rained early in the morning, for a short time, or on a different part of the island. I don't worry about the rain forecasts any more.

Yay!! thank you!

[Badfinger]

In all our travels to 25+ beaches, one of them in my top 3 was at freeport......Gold Rock Beach.....priceless. :cool:

 

We took a kayaking excursion through a mangrove "forest" and ended up at Gold Rock Beach (I think).

 

There was nothing there...but the beach...and the ocean...and a few picnic tables back up in the shade. The most all natural beach we have ever been too...and that was one of our favorite excursions ever. There were at most 20 people on this excursion so only 20 people on the beach.

 

https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/freeport/freeport-kayak-and-nature-experience-416003#

[cruise_everywhere]

I just checked the weather and there are supposed to be thunderstorms every day at sea...ugh...I wonder now if I should even book an excursion....

 

It will like others said be hit/miss - We did go to Nassau when it was rain the entire day, no lighting though. We pre-purchased with Carnival for Atlantis and they were still open, they did give us the option of a refund before we left the ship but they also said it would clear up in no time. Long story short - no slides were open, no lazy river, and the only water thing open was the pools. Since it was raining and pools are both water we enjoyed it anyways.

 

The November we decided to book the British Colonial Hilton across from the port, walking distance and you only pay a small portion up front and you can just no show up if you don't want to go - at least it reserves a spot for you either way.

 

Pending on what you want to do and how many other ships are in port with you pre-booking is a good thing but risky at the same time.

[peajay84]

Who did you book with . . . That sounds like a great tour!

 

Islandz Tours was the company we booked with. They have other tours too but the Rum Rummers was the one we went with.

[Silent Penguin]

Beaches that are not overcrowded

Beaches that have great sand

Beaches in the Panhandle of Florida, Navarre specifically feels like cake flour on your feet.

Gold rock beach is kept natural, no fighting for space, and it seems that many people on ships don't take the time to trek there.

 

Thank you for taking the time to explain what makes a particular beach a top pick for you. Reading about that soft sand reminds me of an excursion we took while in St. Marteen a long time ago. I have no idea where we landed, but we rode on a catamaran to get there.

[pacruise804]

We took a kayaking excursion through a mangrove "forest" and ended up at Gold Rock Beach (I think).

 

There was nothing there...but the beach...and the ocean...and a few picnic tables back up in the shade. The most all natural beach we have ever been too...and that was one of our favorite excursions ever. There were at most 20 people on this excursion so only 20 people on the beach.

 

https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/freeport/freeport-kayak-and-nature-experience-416003#

 

I'm hoping to do this on our February/March trip. For the kayak portion did it seem crowded or difficult to hear the guide with 20 people? I'm guessing that meant 10 kayaks in the water together. How was the lunch? It looked like a light lunch: cold cut sandwiches, maybe fruit, chips, cookies - I could see a light lunch being nice after a few days of heavy cruise meals.

[pacruise804]

i did the snuba excursion in Nassau this past July. It was a a lot of fun. I’d recommend it if you’re into that sort of activity.

 

We plan to do this when we go in February/March - hopefully the water won't be too cold. Did you do the 3 hour excursion or the 5 hour? They seemed the same except possibly the 5 hour was further from the port. Were there any drinks or snacks included (it didn't look like it on the Carnival sight) or should we bring our own water?

 

I often see posts that ship excursions are overpriced, but it looked like Carnival was within $5 of Stuart Cove's price.

[kc58ab]

My family did Atlantis a few years ago and we all loved it! If u do that don't follow thru whole tour once your in and by the pyramid slides depart ...that's what we did and got to rides early with not much wait time.

 

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[txted]

We had a group of 8 in Nassau, and we arranged a private boat that took us to an island with a beach not far away where we were able to snorkel and he even had a tube to do tube rides (Getting salt water splashed in your face is not as fun as fresh water back home). I think it came out to about $600 for the 8 of us.

Will you please share what company you used, did you reserve through Carnival or independently, if independently how did you contact, did you have any concerns about returning to the ship on time? Thanks so much for sharing.

[Oshawapilot]

In Nassau, Take a cab to cable beach and enjoy local cooking on the beach, it's wonderful.

 

...

 

In Freeport, take local transportation to Port Lucaya and have fresh conch fritters and ice cold a Kalik beer at the first little restaurant on the right thru the entrance. It's also a lovely place to shop around little stores, good prices.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, sounds like exactly what we are looking for in both ports - a beach day in one, and a shopping day in another.

 

We've been to Nassau before and definitely want to immediately ditch the port area. Haven't been to Freeport before.

 

Do you remember roughly what the cost of the taxi rides to & from were for both options? There will be 4 of us total, and I am not afraid to haggle. ;)

[Cinders411]

The walk to the liquor store to buy Bahamian produced rum, then back to the ship to enjoy the peace and quiet while most everyone is on shore.

 

:') Agree!

[Cruisefanatic71]

We have done the Atlantis water park excursion one year and another year we just did the beach excursion at Atlantis when we were in Nassau. We enjoyed both excursions. In Freeport, we have taken a beach excursion to Taino beach with the water floats at the beach. We really enjoyed that one also. I guess when you look at reviews they are all subjective to that individuals preferences and their expectations. We base our excursion decisions on what we will enjoy doing and we usually end up with a good decision. Good luck.

[pacruise804]

We're not beach people, but we like to snorkel. In Freeport, we thoroughly enjoyed our package tour with Chad4Nature. The day tour started and ended right at the port. The group maximum could have been enough to fill the van, but as it turned out, dh and I were the only guests on our particular day's excursion. Our guide took us sight seeing, shopping (tailored to our taste), on a nature walk, and snorkeling at Deadman's Reef at Paradise Cove. Snorkeling equipment and lunch were included. We couldn't have been happier with our guide and the value of the excursion.

 

You sound like us and that tour looks great (awesome that it was just the two of you). I looked on TripAdvisor and it showed $129 for the tour - does that sound right? We are currently considering Carnival's Freeport Kayak & Nature Experience - it's only $105 and we have a very limited/odd time in port.

[Clipsy01]

In all our travels to 25+ beaches, one of them in my top 3 was at freeport......Gold Rock Beach.....priceless. :cool:

 

How do you get here to Gold Rock Beach? Is this a excursion or you did it on your own? Is there restrooms? Looking for something new to do. Don't want to do anything with Atlantis and have been to cabbage beach twice. Junkaroo seems worse then cabbage.

[Oshawapilot]

How do you get here to Gold Rock Beach?

 

Just Googled it - 43KM and about 30 minutes by car. Probably not a taxi ride type of destination for sure.